(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a printer and encoder system and more particularly a system that includes a dye sublimation printer for printing plastic proximity cards and an encoder that programs said cards.
(2)
Proximity cards are well known in the art. Typically, proximity cards comprise a pair of sheets of plastics that laminated together to form a wallet-sized card. An antenna and a semiconductor embedded circuit are sandwiched in between the plastic sheets. When the embedded circuit is positioned proximate to a radio frequency transmitter, the embedded circuit is activated and broadcasts encoded information stored by the embedded circuit. In other embodiments, the antenna and the embedded circuit are encapsulated in a tag that may be readily attached to a key-chain, by way of example. Unless other necessary for the sake of clarity, the phrase xe2x80x9cproximity devicexe2x80x9d will be used hereafter to refer to both the proximity card, the proximity tag or other forms of encapsulating an antenna and semiconductor detector circuit.
Proximity devices are widely used in a variety of applications such as to control access to commercial facilities. In this type of application, a user positions the proximity device proximate to a detector circuit. If the user is authorized to gain access, the detector circuit actuates a door lock mechanism. If the user is not authorized, the detector circuit will deny access.
It is customary in most business applications to provide each employee with his or her own proximity card. In such cases, the card may also be used to identify the employee by printing or affixing a picture of the employee, their name and other identifying information on one or both of the card""s surfaces. Unfortunately, in the past, the proximity devices are pre-encoded which means that an inventory of unprinted but encoded proximity devices must be carefully maintained. Maintaining a supply of cards is an expensive and lost proximity devices represent a security risk. In other instances, the proximity device is encoded after the card is printed. This lessens the risk of losing pre-encoded proximity devices but it requires two separate pieces of equipment, specifically, an encoder and a printer.
Encoding a proximity device occurs by programming the embedded circuitry so that it includes the identifying electronic information. After encoding, the electronic information is stored until the proximity card is positioned proximate to a detector circuit. At that time, the electronic information is passed to the detector circuit so that a determination can be made as to whether the user is authorized to proceed.
The process of collecting the employee information is also an involved activity that requires information to be collected from a variety of sources. For example, a photograph is often taken of each employee using a digital camera or a camera that uses film that does not require processing, such as is available from the Polaroid Corporation. This photograph is combined with employee data, such as the employee""s name, department number, title, date of hire, etc., on the front face of the proximity card for identifying the employee to other employees or security personnel. Typically, a dye sublimation printer that provides a color output is used to print the employee data and the picture on the proximity card. Several commercial programs are available for managing the employee data and controlling the operation of the printer. In operation, these programs enable a system administrator to either type the information into an entry field prior to printing or into a database so that the information may be subsequently accessed for printing. One such printer/encoder program, CARDMAN(trademark), is available from VT TECH Corp., the assignee of the present invention.
Once the data is collected and printed, the proximity card must be verified for correctness. If the information is correctly printed onto the proximity card (that is, the correct photograph is combined with the proper employee data), the proximity card is physically transferred to a separate programming port where it is encoded with the electronic information. Often times, the process of printing the proximity cards is a batch process where many cards are printed in a single session.
Clearly, it is important for the encoded electronic information to be correctly matched with the printed information because an error could result in one or more proximity cards being encoded with incorrect information. When multiple cards are being printed, the task of maintaining the correct sequence of cards demands the care and attention of the operator. Maintaining the correct sequence is particularly important when the employer wishes to grant access to selected employees for a particular area while preventing access to other employees and non-employees. However, where a plurality of cards is printed and then encoded as a separate step in the process, it is a non-trivial task to ensure that the printed information is correctly matched with the electronic information when the printing process is separate from the encoding process.
Another problem associated with programming proximity cards arises in the context of two typical scenarios. One typical scenario arises when the proximity card has been properly printed but the card itself is defective. If the printed card includes a defective embedded proximity card circuit, it will have to be rejected. When a card is rejected, the whole process must be repeated. For small volumes of replacement cards, managing the process is relatively straightforward. However, as the number of replacement cards to be printed and programmed increases, the management task becomes much more complex because of the difficulty in matching the printed card with the correct electronic information. The second scenario arises when the proximity card is functioning properly but programmed information does not correlate with the printed employee data on the face of the card. It may, at times, be difficult to verify that the electronic information matches the printed card. Indeed, in many applications, the proximity card is pre-programmed and then stored until needed for a particular employee. Clearly, an employer must order an excess number of cards that must be held in inventory until needed for use. Unfortunately, this inventory of encoded but un-printed cards creates a security risk if one or more cards are subsequently found to be missing. Alternatively, small numbers of cards can be ordered (at a significantly higher cost) each and every time a new card must be printed but the delay between ordering the encoded card and its receipt may be significant and thus unacceptable for many applications. Indeed the lead-time for receiving an order of encoded proximity cards can be several weeks.
Yet another problem that arises from the present two-part system for printing and encoding proximity cards is the lack of sophisticated software that enables a non-technical user to readily print and encode proximity devices. Indeed, it is common to use low-level software to encode the electronic information because the encoding process requires low-level bit and bytes definitions to be defined and programmed. As such, the current software is not well suited for use by any but skilled programmers. Indeed, in most applications where a facility code must be managed, commercially available software is unable to provide such capability.
Accordingly, what is needed is a system that provides a means for both printing the face of a proximity card as well as programming the embedded proximity card circuit in a single operation and that includes user friendly software for controlling and managing the process.
The present invention relates to an electronic proximity device-on-demand system and method. More particularly, the present invention relates to an improved system and method for capturing information, storing images and for encoding and printing a plurality of proximity devices in an efficient manner.
The system comprises a printer/encoder platform that includes a proximity card reservoir, a print station, an encoder station, a reject bin, an output bin and a transport mechanism. The print station is preferably a dye sublimation printer that accepts a wallet-sized plastic card at an input port, transports the card to an encoding station where electronic information is encoded and thereafter transports the card to a printing station where information corresponding to the encoded information is printed. The encoder station comprises encoder circuitry for encoding proximity devices. Encoded and printable information is preferably provided by a computer system coupled to the platform. Rather than print a plurality of cards in first sequence and then encode the plurality of cards in a second sequence, the present invention encodes the electronic information in a first step, verifies the correctness of the encoded information in a second step and then prints the printable information in a third step without intervention by a system administrator. By programming the proximity device before the printing process, defective proximity devices will not bear printed information thereby limiting the security risk if lost, stolen or misplaced. Indeed, if either the proximity or print step results in an error, the present invention enables the system administrator to enact timely corrective measures. Thus, the error can be resolved or a reprogram operation selected so that a replacement card is immediately encoded and printed and the database updated to reflect the error. Reject cards are collected for destruction by the platform. There is no need to attempt to manually ascertain or maintain verify correlation between printable data and the encoded electronic information. Performing an initial verification that the proximity device includes an expected encoded unique signature further enhances security. If the signature is not detected, the system terminates all programming or printing functions until the proper signature is provided.
The present invention further provides a database printer/encoder program for storing printable data together with authorization levels for use in programming the electronic information. Management functions enable the system administrator to create and maintain various accounts and user access rights for modifying the database. These management functions are implemented on a computer system coupled to a network such as an intranet or the Internet. The management functions further include a report generator.
The database printer/encoder program comprises an printer/encoder program interface (API) that couples a database engine with an application engine. The API couples the components of the printer/encoder program to the platform and provides an interface for third party software to access the printer station, the encoder station as well as the database. The API couples the platform to the database printer/encoder program and is responsible for controlling the operation of the print station and the encoder station and the transfer of printable and encoded information to the printer.
The print station provides status control information to the application engine so that the printer/encoder program can monitor operation of the printer. The printer also provides an indication when a card arrives at the print station or when it is moved to a bin.
The printer/encoder program provides control instructions to the platform so that a card is moved by the transport mechanism to a selected station and then instructs either the printer or the encoder to perform a requested function such as print or encode, respectively. If an error is reported at either station, the printer/encoder program provides control instructions to transport the card to a reject bin. If the card is correctly programmed, the printer/encoder program provides control instructions to transport the card to the output bin. Once a previous card is binned, the printer/encoder program instructs the platform to select the next card from the reservoir. Since the database printer/encoder program is tightly coupled to the platform, management of security information is improved and improperly encoded or printed cards are readily controlled.
These and other advantages of the present invention are more clearly described in the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment.